Wood Duck Family Portraits

A recent morning at the local wetlands proved to be very productive.

After changing my shooting location and improving my concealment the Wood Ducks have been much more cooperative. Although the hens are still a wary as ever, having youngsters to look out for has worked to my advantage. I photographed this hen and ducklings as they were passing by no more than twenty feet away.

Another hen with slightly larger ducklings approached from directly in line with the sun; catching me as I slowly turned the camera towards them. Unsure of the movement they had just seen they returned to cover but not before I was able to capture this backlit image.

This hen swam into view some twenty yards away giving me a good first shot complete with a decent reflection. 

The clicking of the camera's shutter drew her attention to me causing her to peer intently in my direction while moving her head from side to side trying to detect what was causing the strange sound.

This is the same family pictured in the first image of this series.  I captured this image as the hen led her little family away after becoming aware of the shutter sounds. 

I never really notice the click of the shutter when shooting scenic, family etc but when photographing wildlife close up the click becomes a loud resounding crash, a sound that wary wildlife such as these Wood Ducks are sure to notice and react to.